Catching Up
by PuppyNoelle
Summary: Hope and Snow finally get a chance to catch up again- 400 years after they last saw one another. FFXIII2. Tie-In to Not a Fairytale. HxV SxS.


_Catching Up_

Description: Hope and Snow finally get a chance to catch up again- 400 years after they last saw one another. Tie-In to Not a Fairytale. HxV SxS.

A/N: This one-shot is actually a tie-in to chapter 4 of my multi-chapter HopexVanille story, _Not a Fairytale_. I will be posting several of these tie-in oneshots alongside _NaF_ chapters. Enjoy! :D

* * *

Hope could tell that Snow was antsy. He really couldn't blame him. His friend had burst into the doors of the research room on a mission to save Serah from a trap: a trap set up by Caius, and fulfilled by his own traitorous assistant, Alyssa. When he had explained to Snow that Serah and Noel had already left, his friend had gone into a rage. It had taken him a good twenty minutes, and one solid, metal-knuckled punch to the face, to calm the much larger man down.

Eventually, Hope had convinced his friend to travel to the year 500AF with him. They both needed to meet up with Serah and Noel again, save Vanille and Fang before the pillar collapsed on top of them, and help launch the New Cocoon into the sky.

The now fixed time capsule was cramped to say the least. The compartment was small to begin with, but with two grown men inside- one of whom was both very tall and very broad- the space was even smaller.

"So," Hope began, attempting to distract both himself and Snow from the cloyingly cramped quarters. "Serah tells me that you've been trying to protect Fang and Vanille."

Snow's bright blue eyes caught his. "Yeah. Lightning asked me to." He grinned. "And I've gotta do everything big sis tells me to, right?"

Hope chuckled. "Yeah. You wouldn't want to become her punching bag again."

"_That's_ for damn sure_,_" the blonde man agreed, "cause she sure hits hard." Both men grinned amusedly, before a serious look grew upon Snow's face. "So you've been working to free Fang and Vanille, huh?"

The smaller man nodded. "Yes. I always wanted them back," he admitted, "right from that first moment that I realized they weren't coming back with us."

"Well yeah," the bulky man replied, "You'd already lost your mother, and then you lost your best friend. You and Vanille were thick as thieves right from the off."

_Best friend_… Hope thought wistfully. _You don't even know the half of it…_

"I've been alone for a long time, Snow," the silver-haired man pointed out, his boyish voice sounded dull and weary, "I mean, I had my father, at least until he became ill, but even he couldn't really _understand_. I was the only one of us left," he continued bitterly, "I had to bear the burden of being the only former l'Cie. I had to bear the burden of being mistrusted, hated, and feared, _alone_. I was only a child, and was already forced to play the role of a politician."

Snow's usually cheerful face formed a pained grimace.

Hope's fists clenched and tears threatened to form behind his eyelids. "I had to be _perfect_. I had to watch every single word I spoke, and every single action I took. If I made _one_ wrong move, it would all be over. I not only had to earn the people's trust, but I had to keep it, too. If I wanted the chance to save Vanille and Fang, then I _had_ to become everyone's ideal."

He no longer fought back the tears. His wet teal eyes stared directly into Snow's azure ones.

"I've had to hide who I really am for so long. More than anything else, I just want to be _free_."

He smiled through his tears, "I want to be able to run after Vanille while she's off chasing after some creature that she wants as a pet." His voice stumbled as he began to laugh. Snow smiled.

Hope continued, his voice gained power and momentum, "I want to be _irresponsible_ for once in my life! I want to blow off work for a week and hide out someplace where _no one_ can find me."

His tears ceased, and both his voice and expression softened. "I want to lie in the grass and stare at the stars in the night sky." He paused. "I just want to _be_. And I want the people I love to be there with me."

Snow leaned forward and clamped a comforting hand onto the other man's shoulder. "You _will_," he said encouragingly, "someday real soon. And this time, I promise we grown-ups'll let you and Vanille bring home whatever critters you want."

Hope laughed. "As long as she doesn't think we can tame a behemoth."

"True," Snow chuckled, "it has to be able to fit inside the house."

"And it can't try to eat us in our sleep," Hope added.

Both men laughed and relaxed into their seats.

"Hey, Hope?"

"Yeah?"

"You think Serah's okay?"

There was a nod of his platinum head. "She's related to Light. Strength is in their DNA."

Snow chuckled. "Yeah… I just can't help but worry, though. I love her too much."

"I understand," Hope mumbled quietly.

"Ehhh," Snow replied, stretching, "you will _someday_, when you finally meet a girl and fall in love. She'll become a part of you, a part you can't live without."

Hope didn't reply. He just smiled secretly. He still wasn't ready. It wasn't yet time for the world to know that he had already fallen in love, or that the girl he loved was still encased in crystal, inside the pillar that was slowly eroding away…

No one could know until she was free, and safely held within his arms.

_Her_ freedom would also be _his_ freedom.

* * *

~fin.


End file.
